2022, Volume 15, Issue 8, pp 979 – 986

Are dental professionals ready to deal with medical emergencies in their clinical office? A survey of university hospitals

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Authors and Affiliations

Corresponding Author: Baraa Issam Abdulrahman, Department of Oral Maxillofacial Surgery and Diagnostic Sciences, Riyadh Elm University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. E-mail: Baraa.abdulrahman@riyadh.edu.sa

Abstract

This research aimed to assess the availability and need of dental emergency kits in Saudi Arabia university hospitals. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 267 dentists, including undergraduate, dental interns, general dentists, and specialists in 6 university hospitals (private and government colleges). In addition, a closed-ended questionnaire was distributed through emails using the online platform. The data revealed that 49.4% of dentists faced medical emergencies. Out of them, 72.7% said that emergency kits were available in their clinics. Sugar sources and oxygen were most commonly available. On the other hand, 37.8% of dentists handled emergencies independently, 34.5% considered themselves competent with cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), and 28.8% were confident of using emergency (ER) drugs. The most common medical emergencies were vasovagal syncope and hypoglycemia. The emergency kit in dental clinics is relatively available, and the incidence of medical emergencies is relatively minor. However, the competence and confidence of the dentists in tackling an emergency is low, including handling of emergency (ER), knowledge of CPR, and its performance. Therefore, CPR courses should be improved and promoted more widely for this purpose.

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About this article

PMC ID: 9514817
PubMed ID: 36188656
DOI: 10.25122/jml-2022-0012

Article Publishing Date (print): 8 2022
Available Online: 

Journal information

ISSN Printing: 1844-122X
ISSN Online: 1844-3117
Journal Title: Journal of Medicine and Life

Copyright License: Open Access

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.


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